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Huge Antonov jet stops at Sea-Tac

One of the largest planes in the world stopped off at Sea-Tac Airport on Friday.

The Antonov An-124 flew in for crew rest between Houston and Tokyo, airport spokesman Perry Cooper said. “(I)t has picked up large cargo (in Seattle) before. We only see it once or twice a year.”

Fitting such a huge jet requires calling at least a few days ahead to ensure there’s a parking spot large enough available, Cooper said.

“This time we didn’t have a spot in the larger cargo area to the north so they fit this in a spot just behind the fire station,” he said. “On this parking spot, it only has about 15 feet, lengthwise, cushion to fit it.”

The jet is scheduled to depart about 5 p.m.

The An-124 was the world’s largest aircraft before the six-engine An-225 derivative came along, according to Airliners.net. It entered commercial service in 1986.

The An-225, which is larger than an A380, has not visited Sea-Tac, Cooper said. “It apparently asked to arrive a few months ago, but we had to turn it down due to available space. Basically we’d have to shut down a runway to allow it to taxi to a parking spot.”

The An-225 did visit Paine Field for the 1990 Washington International Air Fair, or at least was scheduled to, according to this P-I story.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.